Here Are All The Games Confirmed For The HTC Vive

We've covered Playstation VR's lineup and Oculus Rift's launch games so to finish the triumvirate, we've rounded all the games confirmed to be releasing on the HTC Vive so far. Again, some are ports of 2D games, some are built for multiplatform VR and others are developed especially for the HTC Vive — though Valve has said that the platform will have no exclusives.

The Vive will be sold mainly on the strength of its tech — with many games utilising its room scale technology and nuanced movement controllers to maximum effect. “We have no exclusives,” Valve's Chet Faliszek told Fortune. “We don’t think that’s a good thing for the industry, especially in VR where we’re starting out with a promise of presence after so many years. We want to do everything we can to make sure VR succeeds, regardless of the platform. I don’t think a customer ever thinks a platform-exclusive game is a good thing.”

We also know that the Vive will launch with 50 titles when it ships in April, though the entire list hasn't yet been confirmed. I've noted below when developers have said that their game will be launching with the Vive.

What We're Looking Forward To:

Fantastic Contraption

Studio: Northway Games

Fantastic Contraption is a confirmed launch game for the HTC Vive, one of the three free games that will come bundled with the device. It's essentially a game that gives you a bunch of parts and lets you be as creative with them as you want in order to solve a simple problem. The original 2D game can still be played in-browser here, if you're curious as to its origins.

Tilt Brush

Studio: Skillman & Hackett

An offering from Google, Tilt Brush is another of the free games that will launch with the Vive. Tilt Brush lets you use the HTC Vive's controllers to paint in a 3D environment, so it's technically more of an app than a game. It's an interesting look at the applications of this hardware beyond gaming, however, opening up possibilities of shared virtual art spaces and even an intuitive new way for game artists to create interesting 3D assets. Drawing in virtual reality is almost a physical performance — and I wouldn't be surprised if artists ended up doing just that with it.

#SelfieTennis

Studio: VR Unicorns

#SelfieTennis (yes, the hashtag is important) is kind of like Wii Sports Tennis on drugs. At its core, it's a VR game where you play tennis against yourself, however it's the kooky flavour that people really seem to be enjoying about #SelfieTennis so far. The court is surrounded by giant tennis-ball-headed mascots who you can knock over with a ball or even by throwing your racquet at them.

The Brookhaven Experiment

Studio: Phosphor Games

The Brookhaven Experiment is a horror shooter that reminds me a little of the House of the Dead arcade games that I spent too much money on as a teenager. Despite its simple 'shooting gallery' premise, this game has managed to impress many of the people who got their hands on it at GDC. Brookhaven uses the Vive's controllers to control a flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other, in a way that feels intuitive and immersive. It also makes full use of HTC's room scale technology. So — anyone want to shoot some monsters?

Vanishing Realms: Rite of Steel

Studio: Indimo Labs

Another game being developed for the Vive and recommended by Valve is Vanishing Realms — a first person RPG that has been called the closest thing to Elder Scrolls in VR. With plenty of rhythm games, FPS, racing games and flying games, RPGs are thus far fairly under-represented on a platform that could really do them justice. The game utilises a teleportation mechanic to try and minimise some of the weirdness that is actually moving in VR spaces, apparently to good effect. Vanishing Realms comes from the mind of Valve's former senior game designer of sound and music Kelly Bailey, now operating as Indimo Labs on this independent project. Vanishing Realms will launch alongside the HTC Vive in April, through Steam Early Access.

Star Wars: Trials On Tatooine

Studio: ILMxLab

Star Wars in VR, with lightsabers! Trials on Tatooine was developed by ILMxLab to provide the most authentic Star Wars experience for VR. Don't get too excited, though — it's unfortunately only a 7 minute long demo. However by all accounts it's a fun little experience, and it shows just a little of what could be done with a universe like Star Wars in VR.

The Lab

Studio: Valve Software

While The Lab has been demoed at GDC, there are still no screenshots or footage of it yet released. However it seems a little bit like Playstation VR's Playroom — a collection of demos, games and experiences that really show off what the technology can do. The Lab will be free for the HTC Vive, and by all accounts a few of the included games will be worth more than just the initial exploration that these demo-type games tend to lend themselves to.

Great info, pre-ordered mine with some games in mind, but didn't know the full list was this large. Really hope we can play some Oculus exclusives at some point, whether that's official or by someone figuring out a work around.

Na you can at the moment but it's not an easy to find thing. There is some manual text file editing. I'd say they will be making an official patch soon. The support is there it's just not a check box in settings.

Holodance, a game my company narayana games is currently developing, is also missing on that list. Holodance will be going into Early Access on April 5th; it's a title that has been developed for the HTC Vive (and will later also be available for PlayStation VR and Oculus Rift + Touch controllers). The entry is already available on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/422860/

It's also in the Steam-List of titles that support HTC Vive - but I've noticed that when sorting by Relevance, the sorting sometimes changes, so one might miss games when going through the pages. So for a full list, it's probably best to go by name: http://store.steampowered.com/search/?#sort_by=Name_ASC&sort_order=ASC&vrsupport=101&page=2

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